The UK government has confirmed it plans to introduce trade barriers for goods coming into the country from the European Union.
In a speech yesterday (10 February), Michael Gove, Chancellor of the Duchy of Lancaster and one of the UK government’s most senior politicians, said import controls – including checks on food – would be introduced on EU goods at the border after the Brexit transition period ends on 31 December 2020.
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In the first official confirmation the UK government is going to impose trade barriers post-Brexit, Gove warned there would be checks on food and goods of animal origin, plus customs declarations and mandatory safety and security certificates required for all imports.
Speaking at a Border Delivery Group stakeholder event, Gove confirmed EU-based traders selling into the UK will have to submit customs declarations and be liable to checks on goods.
He said: “The UK will be outside the single market and outside the customs union, so we will have to be ready for the customs procedures and regulatory checks that will inevitably follow.
“As a result of that we will be in a stronger position, not just to make sure that our economy succeeds outside the European Union but that we are in a position to take advantage of new trading relationships with the rest of the world.”
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By GlobalDataThe UK’s The Guardian newspaper reported Gove had earlier told colleagues at a Cabinet Office event that “you have to accept we will need some friction”.
He added: “We will minimise it but it is an inevitability of our departure.
“I don’t underestimate the fact that this is a significant change, but we have time now to make that change.”
The newspaper said Gove warned it could take five years to get a smart border involving online processes up and running and said businesses had to be ready for the change next January, whatever the outcome of the next phase of Brexit negotiations.
